Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Sharon Marley (left), daughter of the late raggae icon Bob Marley, along with Maxine Henry-Wilson (second left), Minister of Education Youth and Culture, Desmond McKenzie, Mayor of Kingston, and Professor Verene Shepherd of the Jamaica National Heratige Trust, unveil the monument to mark the Bob Marley Museum, at 56 Hope Road in St. Andrew, as a Protected Heritage Site, yesterday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
AS THE official thanks were being said at the Bob Marley Museum in St. Andrew yesterday morning, Stephanie Marley got up and brushed a piece of debris off the plaque which had just been unveiled.
In black and white, the plaque, which is beside the red, green and gold bordered official designation of 56 Hope Road as a Protected National Heritage Site, summarises Bob Marley's life and musical career.
Among the lesser known information is that "he was baptised in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as Berhane Selassie, meaning 'Light of the Trinity'".
"The site was designated an Protected National Heritage Site on May 31, 2001, by virtue of Bob Marley's significant contribution to the establishment of Reggae music as a part of Jamaica's cultural heritage," the plaque also reads.
And it ends with a quote from Trench Town Rock: "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain, hit me with music the music now ..."
WELL-DESERVED CHOICE
Stephanie Marley, along with Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry-Wilson, had just given the public a first look at the latest monument to her father's legacy. And on Bob Marley's 61st birthday, the significance of the recognition was emphasised, as well as how appropriate it is.
Mayor of Kingston Councillor Desmond McKenzie said, "On behalf of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, I welcome the decision to declare this famous premise where reggae superstar Bob Marley once lived as a Protected National Heritage Site. We believe it is a really well deserved choice and we are sure that is one which will be of tremendous benefit to the (Jamaica National Heritage) Trust, the council, the Government, the country and its people in the near future."
"I believe that Bob intended that after his passing his descendants, his country and his people should be able to utilise his legacy for their benefit," McKenzie said, quoting from Smile Jamaica.
Henry-Wilson gave a personal Marley memory in welcoming the designation. "When we used to come on the bus to school, we used to peep in and see if we could see him playing football," she said. "Like Garvey, Robert Marley continues to live on long after he has gone."
The words of Marley continue to reverberate in the minds of people everywhere," she said, specifying those "in personal and collective quest for survival".
She noted that, although 56 Hope Road is not the place where Bob Marley was born, "it played a strong part in the creation of his legacy."
IDENTIFY WITH HISTORY
She congratulated the Jamaica National Heritage Trust on recognising a place "of sacred memory for the Jamaica people," saying that 56 Hope Road was "one of the symbols of our struggles, but also our triumph. We declare this place as significant to our history and our culture."
Among the Jamaica National Heritage Trust's (JNHT) criteria for a place to be designated a Protected National Heritage Site or National Monument are that it must identify with Jamaica history, prominently identify with an important moment in Jamaican history, be of importance to the public's imagination and prominently identify with great Jamaican personage.
